One of the main reasons to buy the Garmin Instinct 2X Solar is the LED flashlight built into the case. Bright enough to light up your running or cycling path in the dead of night, this special flashlight is much more convenient than the old “flashlight mode” that just turns up your screen’s brightness to maximum.
Whether you’ve just bought a Garmin Instinct 2X Solar or are thinking about buying one, we’ll show you how to use the Garmin Instinct 2X Solar flashlight and tweak the settings to get the most out of it.
How to use the Garmin Instinct 2X Solar flashlight
1. Hold on top left side CTRL button until the Settings menu appears.
2. Use the up and down buttons to scroll through your options until you find it Torch option (it has a flashlight icon). Tap on the top right GPS button (or select the button) to open it.
3. Scroll up and down to select one of the four white LED intensity settings or red LED flashlight. Tap the select button to turn on the flashlight.
At this point, connecting the Instinct 2X flashlight is simple. double tap the CTRL button. It will turn on with the same color or intensity you selected last time. Then Double tap the top left button again to turn off the flashlight.
How to use the Strobe flashlight settings
1. Return to Management Settings (hold down the top left button) and scroll down from the torch to find Strobe menu (it has a flashing light icon).
2. Scroll through your mode options. Blitz (three rapid flash lights in succession), Lighthouse (semi-rapidly alternating between on and off), Pulse (bright light slowly fades) Blink (replaced with slightly longer on-off intervals than Beacon), or By order (more on that below).
3. Tap GPS selection button To turn the strobe light on and off.
Note that, unlike the standard flashlight setting, your Strobe setting will not be saved if you double-tap the CTRL key to toggle it off and on. To turn it back on, you’ll need to go back to the Strobe settings page.
Let’s focus Custom mode. To use it, select Custom to bring up your three customizable options: pattern, speed, and color.
4. Click down (ABC) button switch to edit mode.
5. Use select the (GPS) button to move between options for each setting, then the down button again to move to the next option.
6. When you’re done customizing, click the button with the (Set) button to return to the Custom screen, then select the (GPS) button to enable it.
How to make the Instinct 2X Solar flashlight match your speed during activity
At any point during tracked activity, you can follow the steps above to turn on your flashlight and illuminate your path or give a visual warning to passersby that you’re there. But if you often exercise at night and want your flashlight to be on by default during activity, you can set that up pretty easily.
1. Hold on middle-left Menu button.
2. Scroll down to Settings > Activity & Apps.
3. Select an activity (such as Run) for which you want to turn on the Strobe and select it.
4. Choose Run the settings (or [Activity] Settings).
5. Scroll down and select Strobe.
6. Under: Status:choose After sunset (or On if you prefer).
7. Under: Mode:it must be defined Cadence:. You can leave it as it is or select it and switch to another mode like Blink or Pulse.
By enabling this, you ensure that the Instinct 2X Solar flashlight will (in theory) follow your body movements as it turns on or off. I found this mode a little inconsistent in practice, but you should try it out for yourself and see if you like it.
Now you know majority Garmin Instinct 2X Solar Flashlight Tricks. In the device’s manual, Garmin claims you can “display your emergency contact information and program the flashlight to flash in a distress pattern” if you “hold MENU, select Distress Pattern, and press GPS,” but I didn’t see this option. even after creating an emergency contact in the Garmin Connect app. It’s probably something Garmin plans to add in the future.
Without a doubt, the Instinct 2X Solar belongs on the list of best Garmin watches of the year, thanks to its flashlight and powerful solar battery to juice up your nighttime runs during the day.
The Garmin Instinct 2X Solar has incredible battery life under normal use, but the flashlight will drain that battery pretty quickly if you’re not careful. Keep this in mind when choosing the flashlight intensity or strobe option, or if you enable Cadence mode in addition to multi-track GPS tracking. Our guide to Garmin watch battery problems can give you other tips on how to make your watch last longer.
A solid design, improved software, ridiculously good battery life and solar charging, and a handy new flashlight make the 2X one of the best fitness watches of the year.